Stay
by Eyes-of-Crimson
Summary: Rivalshipping (meant to be platonic but can be read as romantic). Post-canon, Judai comes back to see Manjoume for a night, and while Manjoume's been holding up just fine without his friend all this time he doesn't take the "leaving again" part very well.


Reposted from Tumblr! Fill for a friend's request.

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He didn't mean to start begging Judai to stay, especially not just as they were about to get on Judai's motorcycle. He had his helmet on and everything, yet here he was with Judai's shirt collar crunched tightly in his fists and tears burning at the corners of his eyes. Judai was understandably confused and made no attempt to hide that fact.

"H-hey, Manjoume..."

"Manjoume, _sir_, you moron!"

Judai didn't snark back at him like he usually would, and Manjoume felt the pit inside of him that had been growing all this time, all these months and years without seeing Judai, rip open to remind him that so many things had changed. As much as the helmet would allow, he put his face to Judai's shirt, pressing what he had in his hands to his eyes to catch the tears that were rolling out. This was stupid, so, _so_ stupid, but he couldn't stop.

He wasn't sure how to feel about Judai just standing there, because he understood very well that this was sudden and he caught him off guard, but on the other hand he wanted nothing more than _anything_ from him. He wanted some kind of attention, any sort of recognition that he still _mattered_ would've been nice. He'd held it together for so long, and it had never felt taxing on him, _never_. In some part of his mind he had planted the idea that he would never see Judai again, that that was just the way he was, and he had accepted this fact early on. It had been a bittersweet peacefulness, and it was wrecked the instant Judai showed up on his stupid red motorcycle with his stupid grin and asking for a duel with Japan's #1 duelist, and then he had to gall to offer to buy him dinner no matter the outcome.

Judai finally took a breath, and Manjoume could feel his chest heave and it felt too real. "What do you want me to do here, Manjoume?"

"I want you to come _home_, Judai!"

Judai carefully pried Manjoume's hands from his shirt and held onto them, letting their arms drop between them, Manjoume's shaking fingers scrambling to intertwine with the still and sturdy ones holding him together. Judai had told him that once he dropped Manjoume off at his house, he'd be back on the road, back to going and going for so long it felt like leaving, and that was when Manjoume cracked.

"Not yet," Judai says, "I can't do that yet, Manjoume."

Manjoume understands, he really does, but he hates it right now, hates Judai for being his best friend, hates him for being something solid and encouraging in his life, hates him for loving him more than he had known before because it's so stupid and cliché but it's _true._

He hates that he had put this helmet on before letting himself fall apart. He's trying to push his face into Judai's chest, but the bright red helmet is getting more action than he is. It makes sense, though, because there's always going to be a barrier between them that Manjoume respects enough to not tear away and hates enough to want to.

Judai sighs and Manjoume doesn't care if he's disappointed with his pitiful display right now. "Let me take you home, alright? I can...I can stay the night if you'd be okay with that? We can catch up more..."

Manjoume laughs, now, and it's bitter and harsh and forced. "You offer that _now_, but you're still going to leave in the morning. I bet you won't even sleep." Silence answers him well enough and he untangles his hands from Judai's to wipe away the mess on his face. When he looks at Judai again, he knows he looks like shit.

But Judai looks guilty and Manjoume takes this as a victory, so he doesn't care as much that his eyes are probably red and gross and watery.

"Make it up to me."

Judai's face snaps from guilty to confused immediately at the demand, and he even cocks his head slightly when he asks, "What?"

Manjoume has an entire reel of demands ready, a long list of things Judai could do for him to make up for all the lost time, the expended energy, the this and that and everything in between. He's thought about this a lot, because while he doesn't hold Judai accountable for the lack of communication all this time, he still misses him and even in his 20's is still a brat.

But he says none of those things.

"I don't want to see you again until you're coming home for good," he says, even to his surprise, but he's smiling while he says it so maybe it's not too bad. Judai stares at him, his jaw slacked, and for a moment Manjoume is concerned that he's lost him.

Judai's face breaks out into a grin and a laugh and when he pulls Manjome into a tight hug, he knows that he hasn't lost him at all.


End file.
